It had been reported previously that Christopher Nolan‘s Batman sequel had been filming at the protest camps in Manhattan, where the settlement is standing up against social and economic inequality.

But now the actor has revealed that his director decided against it as it would send the wrong message. He told Indiewire:”The wisdom of Christopher Nolan and his incredible team was that, while it seemed like a good idea to give [the protesters] an opportunity for work, to give them money, it would send a terrible message.”

At the end of the day, we’re making a movie. What’s happening down there is more important than that. To co-opt what’s happening there and around the country… we didn’t want to trivialise it.

He continued: “It was more important to respect what they’re doing down there than to do anything that could potentially trivialise the political situation downtown.”

Modine will play a “politician and key villain” named Nixon in the film. The Dark Knight Rises is released in the UK on July 20 next year.